Tag Archives: epicenter

BRING ME THE HORIZON & SCARLXRD Take Milwaukee To “Second Base” [Review & Photo Gallery]

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Bring Me The Horizon

Last week, hard rock titans Bring Me The Horizon kicked off their “Second Base” North American tour at the Welcome to Rockville festival in Jacksonville, Florida. The tour is rather short as the band only plays headline shows between each festival they are playing Welcome To Rockville, Epicenter, and Sonic Temple). The Jacksonville performance showcased a new stage production that they did not have here for their previous US tour with Fever 333 and Thrice (titled the “First Love” tour). Popular metal rapper Scarlxrd provided support on this tour. This may seem off the wall but he brought something unique to the table and absolutely killed it. On the previous tour, keyboardist and backup vocalist Jordan Fish had to leave due to having a child. However, he was present on Wednesday night. We were fortunate enough to attend the third show of the tour at Eagles Ballroom in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on Wednesday, May 8th. Check out our review and photo gallery from Kayla Gray below and make sure you catch Bring Me The Horizon when they come near you!

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Epicenter Festival Spotlight: BOSTON MANOR [Official Videos]

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*This is part of the Epicenter Festival Spotlight segment where we help you get to know some of the non-headlining bands performing at the festival. This week we introduce you to Boston Manor!*

Boston Manor is a pop punk band which formed in Blackpool, Lancashire, England in 2013. The band certainly isn’t of the heavier variety of bands performing at the Epicenter Festival, but they help give a break in all the heaviness throughout the day. Boston Manor released their debut EP ‘Here/Now’ the same year they formed in 2013. In 2014, the five piece released both a split with the band Throwing Stuff, as well as another EP titled ‘Driftwood.’ Then in 2015, Boston Manor signed to Pure Noise Records and released a four-track EP titled ‘Saudade.’ In 2016, Boston Manor released their first full-length album titled ‘Be Nothing.’ Continue reading →

Epicenter Festival Spotlight: FEVER 333 [Official Videos]

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Fever 333 is one of the most anticipated live bands of the summer. Vocalist Jason Aalon Butler formerly of Letlive is well known as a showman on stage. Having previously saw him perform with his previous band at the inaugural Chicago Open Air fans saw him not only sing with complete perfection but also climb to the top of the scaffolding on the stage approximately 400 feet up in the sky. Everyone eye in the crowd was watching Butler as he ascended to the top still screaming out vocals to the top of his longs. That is just one aspect of what you should expect when seeing him live and in the flesh. Of course he isn’t the only accomplished musician that makes up this stellar group. Following Butler’s Letlive break up, he teamed up with former The Chariot guitarist Stephen Harrison and Night Verses drummer Aric Improta to create Fever 333 in July 2017. The singer also announced in the last few days the formation of his new hardcore band Pressure Cracks. Fever 333 trio quickly signed to Road Runner Records and released their 7 track EP ‘Made An America’. The band has said their focus is on “community, charity, and change” and Butler adds: “The movement is much greater than the music. The art is only a contingent piece. We want to make sure we’re just as involved in the activism and actual activation. By no means do we expect other artists to take on this task. “Most of the people who made big improvements were either assassinated or just called crazy. We make it ostensibly clear that everything we do is in an active effort for change. It’s about bringing back that socio-political mindfulness. We’re trying to write the soundtrack to the revolution that we know is about to happen.”  Continue reading →

Epicenter Festival Spotlight: COUNTERFEIT. [Official Video]

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*This is part of the Epicenter Festival Spotlight segment where we help you get to know some of the non-headlining bands performing at the festival. This week we introduce you to Counterfeit!*

The next Epicenter Festival band you need to get familiar with is Counterfeit who is no stranger to North Carolina festival fans. The band played the final year of Carolina Rebellion last year, and if you missed their set you can forgive yourself by seeing them this coming May. Counterfeit are English punk rockers from London, England. They were formed by and still maintain their original lineup of lead vocalist and guitarist Jamie Campbell Bower, his brother guitarist Sam Bower, guitarist Tristan Marmont, bassist Roland Johnson and drummer James Craig. Continue reading →

Epicenter Festival Spotlight: HIGH ON FIRE [Official Videos]

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*This is part of the Epicenter Festival Spotlight segment where we help you get to know some of the non-headlining bands performing at the festival. This week we introduce you to High On Fire!*

If you are familiar with High On Fire you will be in agreement that it’s hard to believe they are billed earlier in the day on the inaugural Epicenter Festival lineup. The mastermind behind the band is of course Matt Pike known famously as one of the best doom guitarists ever from his work with his other band Sleep. He formed High On Fire in 1998. Pike is a talented musician that has a huge discography between his bands. With Sleep he has released 5 albums and one EP, and with High On Fire he has released 8 studio albums and 1 live album. He was also a part of the bands Asbestosdeath (which was was an early incarnation of Sleep) and Kalas who combined have released 2 EPs and 2 albums. The one area where High On Fire differs is that Matt Pike in addition to playing guitar also is the vocalist as well. His vocal style is gritty, raw, aggressive and it’s impossible to not thoroughly enjoy. The bands most recent album is ‘Electric Messiah’ which released in October via Eone Music and the album has been on nearly everyone’s best albums of the year list. In addition to that successful album High On Fire has also been nominated for a Grammy for Best Metal Performance. With the nomination they are joining some legendary past nominees like Metallica, Motörhead, Faith No More and TOOL, this is the first time the band has been nominated in their twenty-year career. In regards to their nomination the band had this to say: “We are so honored to be appreciated by our peers,” says vocalist and guitarist Matt Pike. “We love and live our art.” “It doesn’t matter whether we win or not,” says drummer Des Kensel. “It’s just an honor to be recognized for our hard work and sacrifice after devoting our whole lives to music.” Finally, bassist Jeff Matz adds, “This is pretty mind-blowing. We’re beyond thrilled about the nomination. We all put a lot of sweat and sleepless nights into writing and recording this album. It’s amazing that our efforts are being recognized in this way.” On February 10th High On Fire won that Best Metal Performance Grammy for  their album ‘Electric Messiah’ beating out other metal powerhouses Between The Buried And Me, Trivium, Deafheaven and Underoath. With that much talent in one category it certainly shows you the talent that High On Fire will bring to the Epicenter stage. Continue reading →

Epicenter Festival Spotlight: HO99O9 [Official Video]

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Ho99o9 (pronounced Horror) is one of the up and coming band performing at the inaugural Epicenter Festival in Rockingham, North Carolina. This band is like nothing you have ever seen or heard before. Their sound is a mixture of punk, industrial and rap. The band finished up 2018 on tour with The Prodigy in the U.K.. Their sound is somewhat similar to The Prodigy mixed with Nine Inch Nails, Dead Kennedys and a touch of rap. Ho99o9’s sound changes somewhat drastically from song to song and they can’t really be pigeon holed to one specific sound or style. The New Jersey duo explains that they weren’t exposed to rock, punk or metal growing up and all they really heard was hip hop. Now days you will see the band members repping such bands as the Misfits, Cro-Mags, and even Eye Hate God.  Continue reading →

Danny Wimmer Presents Executives Name Drop Potential Future Headliners!

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Danny Wimmer Presents (DWP) has become a household name in the music industry, especially for festival-goers. The DWP team has brought us Rock On The Range, Welcome To Rockville, Carolina Rebellion, Louder Than Life, Chicago Open Air, Aftershock, Rock Allegiance, Bourbon & Beyond, Northern Invasion, Fort Rock, and the new festivals premiering this year: Epicenter, Sonic Temple, and Hometown Rising. Their festivals exceeded 700,000 in attendance in 2017 and have had 100’s of millions of dollars in economic impact in the cities in which they have held events; and they were ranked the 26th best promoter in the world according to Pollstar in 2017. The reason they are so successful is because their passion lies in the music and not in the profit margins. Year in and year out they bring international artists, both large and small, to music-hungry cities around the United States. The stages they built have helped smaller bands build their fan base, and in return, those bands are becoming our future headliners.  Continue reading →

Epicenter Festival Spotlight: BLACK COFFEE

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*This is part of the Epicenter Festival Spotlight segment where we help you get to know some of the non-headlining bands performing at the festival. This week we introduce you to Black Coffee!*

Black Coffee formed in early 2017 after drummer Tommy McCullough introduced singer/bassist, Ehab Omran, to guitarist Justin Young. Within the first few days, these artists began songwriting and the chemistry was overwhelmingly apparent. With the release of Black Coffee’s debut album, ‘Take One’, on April 21st, the Columbus, Ohio rockers definitely possess the sound, style, confidence and work ethic that created legends in music in the previous few decades. The bands style is slightly retro rock and with the recent success of bands like Greta Van Fleet, The Struts and Rival Sons they have timed the formation of the band perfectly. Black Coffee are a band that certainly appreciates a good riff and you will easily notice how they flaunt their guitarists talents within their music. Ehab Omran’s vocals pack immense power into such a small frame. He sings in a melodic manner but also at times can wail with an aggressive grit to his voice as well. The band unveiled a music video for “I Barely Know Her”. The song and accompanying video was the first taste of Black Coffee that we would receive and it sent music fans into a whirlwind. The video was filmed at the Johnstown Opera House in Johnstown, Ohio. “I Barely Know Her” was filmed, directed and produced by the extremely talented John Payne of Payne Productions, who is one of the most talented photographers in and around Columbus, Ohio. With the attitude of the years gone by and the sound of a new resurgence of the classic rock, Black Coffee parts the proverbial sea for the next generation of artists. Continue reading →

Carolina Rebellion Becomes EPICENTER FESTIVAL!

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After 8 years Carolina Rebellion has come to an end with the split between DWP and AEG. Because of the naming rights the festival had to be renamed for DWP to continue with the festival. As of today it was released that the new name of the festival will be the EPICENTER Festival. The festival will still take place in early May on May 10th thru 12th. However, the location has changed from Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina where Carolina Rebellion was held the past several years to Rockingham, North Carolina at the Rockingham Festival Grounds where the festival was originally held in its early years. The location change also brings with it some additional advantages for the festival. DWP has stated “With the move to our new site, we’re developing 140 acres into festival grounds, which will allow us to provide enhances camping amenities, nighttime entertainment with no curfew, and expanded food and beverage offerings, all highlighted by a massive music lineup covering the spectrum of rock and alternative music.”  Continue reading →